Analysis and Experiment of Fish Body Wave Motion of MFC-Actuated Flexible Structure

This paper demonstrates the application of a flexible structure driven by Macro Fiber Composites (MFC) to mimic and explore fish body wave motion. The assumed mode approach is used to derive the first three normalized mode forms of the flexible structure driven by MFC. It is found that the second-order mode shape closely mimics the swimming mode shape of a carangiform fish. The amplitude-frequency response and vibration shape monitoring experiments of the underwater flexible structure actuated by MFC are conducted. The experimental results reveal a node on the second-order vibration shape of the MFC-actuated flexible structure, which divides it into two parts with opposite vibration directions. Furthermore, the study also verifies the accuracy of the vibration model and the feasibility of mimicking the fish body wave motion by utilizing an MFC-actuated flexible structure. The results of this study offer important insights into the creation and performance improvement of underwater propulsors, thereby indicating potential areas for future research and development efforts.